In passenger aircraft, there is typically a large number of different types of wireless signals originating from, and being directed to, the passengers and/or crew. Some of these signals are internal to the aircraft, but typically most are between the aircraft and an entity external to the aircraft. The signals may be classified as voice communications, or as data communications.
Both types of communication are typically transmitted as packets using various protocols such as the Internet Protocol (IP), the User Datagram Protocol (UDP), the Transmission Control Protocol (TCP), and/or the Real-Time Transport Protocol (RTP). These protocols are respectively described in Request For Comments (RFC) documents RFC 791, RFC 768, RFC 793, and RFC 1889, which may be found at www.faqs.org/rfcs/, and which are incorporated herein by reference. Voice communications are also transmitted using specific cellular telephone protocols, such as a Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) protocol, a global system for mobile (GSM) protocol, and/or various orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) protocols.
The communications external to the aircraft are typically transmitted via links which are limited in bandwidth, and the bandwidth limitation causes problems, such as dropped data connections, long voice call setup times, and reduced voice quality. While some solutions to the problems caused have been found, for example, the application of a differentiated services architecture, the solutions are at best partial fixes for the problems.
Thus, an improved method for transmitting traffic from an isolated system such as an aircraft cabin would be advantageous.